Ford Mustang Forum banner

2.3l head porting

20K views 81 replies 3 participants last post by  Slow78mustang 
#1 ·
I was wondering if the the porting guide over on turboford could be applied to a n/a head. If not could provide me with a guide for porting.
 
#2 ·
Well, it depends; With an N/A motor, port velocity should be high on the priority list as it also should be in engines with turbo's or superchargers, unless you like an engine that bogs every time you step on the gas. A notable effect of head porting is a loss in port velocity "read momentum" of gases. In almost every case, you give up something to get something. The larger port volumes start to work to your advantage when you add a more aggressive cam lift profile to the mix.


When porting N/A heads, I spend more time working the exhaust side of things, since scavenging is such an influential part of N/A HP production. I know I've stated this many times before, but HP is a function of engine speed and optimizing your engine for more power at higher engine speeds should entail an educated decision regarding the camshaft, since it influences where peak HP occurs.

On the topic of cams; a question I'm often asked is: how much power will my engine make if I port the head with the stock cam. Not much is the answer. The reason for this is that the factory ports are not far off from optimal at their stock volumes and velocities when used with low lift short duration factory cams. The good new is that you can run a lot more cam with a stock head.

For street driven cars, I would stick with a lift profile that has a HP peak below 6500 RPM. Milling the head for compression would be the first mod I would do, followed by some good seat work and some fresh valves and springs. On the porting side of things, the area directly below the valves could be worked and if the funds are available, some hardened exhaust seats and some 1.590" exhaust valves would be helpful.


 
#4 · (Edited)
Comp Cams 268H P/N 70-127-6 is a good match to the Crane 199511 cam. It has a very broad torque curve and pulls hard up to roughly 6,000 RPM. It has .440" of lift so you don't need to worry about head machining for fitment. It will work fine with the stock compression ratio, but will really starts to shine if you up the ratio above 11:1, which is my recommendation. It does however, require stiffer valve springs, as would any similar grind. It's enough cam to make 165 HP with the right supporting mods.

Summit racing sells it for $249

COMP Cams Magnum Hydraulic Cam and Lifter Kits CL70-127-6 - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing


The other cam similar to this, that can make over 170 HP is the Erson E253522 Hydraulic Cam- 222°/226° @.050 .456/.455 lift. It has a slightly higher torque peak than the Comp 268H.

USA performance sells this cam for $189-

http://usaperform.com/ford-hydraulic-222°226°-456455-lift-p-3350.html
 
#6 ·
The factory Holley 5200 series carburetors that came in Mustang II's will flow about 290 CFM if you remove the choke plates and cross shaft from them. That's enough for 150 HP, which would get you down the road quite well. Your engine would work better with a Holley 350 2 barrel on top of a 1/2" spacer using your factory intake. You will want to mill the head at least .100" to bring the compression ratio up. Anyone that tries to talk you out of that, probably doesn't know much about N/A 2.3 engines.

I could better advise you, if I had a rough Idea of what your precise engine building goal is. I think I have an idea of what your looking for, the short punch list should look something like this;

CAM.
VALVE SPRINGS.
NEW FOLLOWERS.
CAM BREAK IN LUBE.
LASH CAPS AND LIFTER SPACERS DEPENDING ON CAM BASE CIRCLE DIAMETER.
HEAD MILLING.
HAND WORKING OF COMBUSTION CHAMBERS AND VALVE BOWLS.
VALVE AND SEAT CUTTING.
HOLLEY 350 CARB, #66 MAIN JETS #35 POWER VALVE.
1/2" CARB SPACER.
FULL LENGTH HEADER INTO A 2-1/2" EXHAUST.
TOTAL SPARK ADVANCE @ 32-34 DEGREES WITH WATER/METH INJECTION OR 28-30 DEGREES WITHOUT




I see that your location is Romeo. Is that Romeo Michigan?
 
#7 ·
Thanks again, my goal for now is 150hp and maybe when I'm done 200HP.What the plan is for now is have the head milled, new camshaft, header and 2.5 exhaust system. I'll be keeping the c-3 auto in the car but after I get all the parts I'm going to swap in a t-5. I was thinking to do a stroker kit to get to 200HP. Would that be an effective way to get me to 200 or more HP or would you recommend something else. Also I'm planning on going with the comp cam you recommended would I need lash caps and lifter spacers with it. I was interested in doing methanol injection but how much would that improve the performance, and yeah it's Romeo,Michigan.
 
#8 ·
Stroker kits can be pricey, but they definitely work. I own 2 Esslinger 2.7 cranks and on my 93 Mustang, I'll be swapping a 2.5L crank from a Ranger later this year. I've done a few stroker motors for customers and they work very well. The 2.5L crank in a stock engine is worth about 10-12 HP or so, but torque climbs substantially and is much broader when used in a modified engine. The cheapest route to a 2.5 is through a self service wrecking yard; hunting down a crank, rods and pistons from a 2.5L and grabbing a 90' or later 2.3L block which will have the same diameter crank journals.

200 HP is within in the grasp of a street based stroker engine, I've done it myself and was extremely pleased with the result. You would need a bit more lift on the cam and some porting to get the airflow through the head up to 200 CFM on the intake side and 160 on the exhaust side. That means you'd be using larger valves on both sides and doing some head porting. You will need forged pistons as well, since the engine will spin a bit higher to make that power. There are more details, but that's down the road anyway.


Focusing on 150 HP for now, I'd go with the Erson cam and give them a call regarding the set-up. I'm drawing a blank on the set-up for that cam, but it might be a drop in with the stock base circle diameter.

The steps I outlined previously will get you close to 150.

Meth injection would allow you to run more spark advance and more compression (read more HP).
 
#10 ·
Yes, if you get a decent NOs kit, you could get away with up to 75 HP, provided you kept spark advance a little bit lower.

I really like the 2.5L option because of the broad torque curve is delivers. I know that the pistons are a bit pricey, but worth it in my opinion. More than a few off road and circle track guys run the factory 2.5 crank and rods up to 7500 RPM. You can use ARP rod bolts in them and polish the beams and they will take a severe beating.

I'm in the middle of working on a low buck 2.5L solution for my 93'. Keep checking my build thread, eventually that will make it in there.

I ran a nitrous 2.3 for years as a daily driver. I built up the engine with an Esslinger head and some flat top forged pistons, with 5.7" rods. I used a 100 HP wet kit on that and It was super quick out of the hole, much faster than any of my turbo cars to 60.

It's kind of funny, but most folks on these forums don't want to hear about N/A motor stuff, I guess they don't see the potential and just figure that they'll have to drop a ton of money to build an engine up. The irony is that you'll still spend a fair chunk of cash to do a turbo conversion. I guess they forget that mini-stock racers across the country are out thrashing 2300 engines @ 7,500-8,000 RPM every weekend. Most of those are budget build engines with factory iron heads, stock rods and $$ restrictions. They make between 230-260 HP.

Here's a picture of my Mustang I used to run NO2 in. Every other year I had to smog it, so I'd swap the cam and exhaust on it and then put it back again. That's a Speedflow stepped header in the 2nd picture. It works really well and will likely find it's way onto my 93" at some point. That was a 370 HP engine with nitrous BTW.



 
#11 ·
Alright good to know just figuring out my options. On the subject of the 2.5l stroker kit if I use the ranger crankshaft that is a small journal crank and the crank in my 1978 is a larger journal crank I believe correct me if I'm wrong. With that being said I've seen bearing spacers on raceeng.com to allow using the small journal crank in an engine with the larger crank journals. On another note I totally agree with you about people thinking turbo is a better and cheaper option, after looking into it I mean like you have said in your previous posts if you get the engine from a junkyard it's not going to be in perfect condition and some work will still be required. Also I can't believe you have the patience to keep tearing down your builds to pass smog tests thankfully I don't have to deal with that here.
 
#12 · (Edited)
When you consider the cost of bearing spacers, it really makes sense to use a wrecking yard small journal block, but it just depends on what you can find locally. Out here, where everything costs more, a "complete" short block from the local PicknPull yard is still under $140.00. Everything you need all at once for less than the bearing spacers.

Yes, California's smog check program leaves very little room for interpretation. Like many programs, it centers around $$, with clean air as a second priority I think. But, when compared to many places, it does leave some room for improvements, via engine swaps and CARB certified parts. At least for now.
 
#13 ·
I know this will be a complete different direction but I was wondering about supecharging as an option, I mean obviously I would still have to fabricate some piping but the only other thing else I would need is a blow through carb and forged pistons. Maybe it's not worth it but just curious because if I eventually did the stroker kit I would end up spending about the same amount in the long run.
 
#14 ·
That would could be a viable option down the road, but I would still follow the path you are on now 1rst.

If you get to that point where you want to add a supercharger, I might be able to help you with the parts, since I have done quite a few supercharged cars on top of my own, kind of have a trail of parts from past conversions. Everything you are doing now, would make the addition of the supercharger that much better.

I’d suggest you do your build in small steps. Get a decent header and exhaust system first. That will help to support other mods. Then see if you can find a spare, decent single plug head to work on. You can do some moderate porting on it, have it milled and find a good shop to do some seat work on it. Then put your cam and springs in and play around with it a bit.

I would actually consider a draw through supercharger on your Mustang II. Much easier to tune and set up.
BTW, do you have a picture of your Mustang II? Just curious, as I used to own a 74’.
 
#15 ·
Yeah i definetly agree with doing things in steps just curious if it was cost effective going supercharger in the future. In regards to the supercharger i understand that you can have a draw through turbo because it spins the turbine with the air fuel mix from the carb,so how does a draw through work with a supercharger do you simply inject the compressed air into the intake manifold with custom piping or am I missing something. In regards to the picture currently the mustang is primed and awaiting paint and I'm going to have a kind of photo album of what the car looked liked and maybe some videos even of doing the work because there isn't much in terms of mustang ii videos.
 
#16 · (Edited)
The draw through system is what you typically see on old muscle cars, where the carburetor sits atop of the supercharger and pulls the mixture through into a manifold below.
I think I still have almost everything to put one of these together, including an Eaton M62 and a custom intake manifold. Like I mentioned, if you get to that point, send me a message and I'm sure I can work
out a deal. B&M used to sell a kit for Toyota's and early Chrysler 2.2's. Draw through systems work well, especially if you use an efficient fuel cooler with them; helps to cool the inlet charge. Just for reference, I inserted an Engine Masters video link, so you can see the kind of HP blown engines make. The roots blower in the video is an old school straight lobe design, which is not as efficient as Eaton's more technically sophisticated designs.








LINK BELOW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHg2uqJvLOk
 
#18 ·
I should have a set of factory rods and piston somewhere in my shop, not sure what their condition is, I haven't looked at them for a long time. I think they came out of a low mile turbo motor, but again, I don't know if the're any good.

Honestly, you'd be better off getting a new set of flat top forged pistons (different bore clearance required for forged)and having the bores re-done +.020".

Back where you live, boring and honing should be less than $25 bucks per hole, so I'd call around. click on the link below. It should lead you to CNC Motorsports who sells Icon pistons, which are very popular with Ministock racers. They sell for $278 for a set of 4.

Icon IC939-020 Forged Flat Top Pistons 3.800 Bore | CNC Motorsports | Car Parts | Truck Parts | Competition Engines
 

Attachments

#20 ·
There's a good one near Cleveland called Budget engine rebuilders. Their prices are pretty good too;

Machine Valve Seats for 3 Angle Cut –4 Cyl. – $80

Bore and Hone – $15/cylinder

Install Cam Bearings – $30

You'll have to bring them your pistons before they can bore the block for you.
 
#21 ·
All right thanks,also and after thinking it over the goal is to make it faster but when it comes down to it I would much rather have something to drift around instead of being fast in a straight line, which I fell would make it somewhat unique considering it's a damn mustang ii. To accomplish that what HP would I need to be around 180ish maybe 200?. You recommended earlier in the thread the camshaft header and milling the head should put me around 150, what would I need to do to pump that up to 180-200, I'm assuming you said around 150HP because I want to use the stock carb so is that all I would need to replace or is there more that would need to be done, thanks in advance.
 
#22 ·
Your Mustang sounds like a really cool project, it will be nice to see it take shape.

For a drift car, I think you're going to want some fast building torque and 150 HP level would just barely get you there.

180-200 HP in N/A form will mean that the compression ratio will need to be 12:1 and the head will need to flow 200 CFM on the intake side and 170 on the exhaust, so some careful porting will be required. Factory oval and D port heads can achieve this if properly worked and fitted with larger intake and exhaust valves. Some engine tuning will be needed to get the cam on the right spot and the timing and fuel trims to where max power can be made.

In order to get the desired CFM,you would also need to go for more lift at the valves, .500"-.550" (cam, springs, retainers). In order to do that, additional machine work on the head will be required for proper clearances at this lift. I would also suggest some better quality lash adjusters or a switch over to solid adjusters. At 200 HP you'll be turning 7500-7800 RPM, so engine balancing will become more important as will stress on the oil pump drive shaft and distributor gear and connecting rods. Esslinger Engineering sells a heavy duty distributor gear and matching auxiliary shaft which will limit worry about these items failing. I would recommend polishing the rod beams and replacing the rod bolts with ARP fasteners. It would be worth it to invest in a windage tray and a decent oil pan as well. There's some detail work which you can do yourself if you're going this route for HP.

For what you are looking to do, the previously mentioned (150 HP) mods + a supercharger will get you to 220-230 HP, without taking away the driveablility of your car.

So that's; cam, springs, pistons, header and exhaust, stock rebuilt head with minor port work and a supercharger with carburetor.

I have run Eaton M62's on several of my vehicles. They will make roughly 70 more HP on a stock 2300 with 7.5 lbs. of boost.

Not long from now your car should look like this??
 

Attachments

#23 ·
Alright then it sounds like the supercharger is the way to go. So since going the supercharger route would I even need to mill the head since I can increase the compression with the supercharger.also could you message me how much for the supercharger kit just so I know how much I need because if I'm pulling the engine to replace the pistons and have the cylinders bored I would prefer to put everything together at once.
 
#24 ·
So, I'll have to pull everything together for you, but I will just give you the intake manifold for it and I'll sell you the supercharger for $325.00. You'll have to source a belt and I will need to make a pulley adapter and a belt tensioner for you, should be less than $100. This will take me 8-10 weeks before I can even get to it, as I have that much backlog work, but in the mean time you can get your basic block & head machine work done and we'll talk about carburetor setup on the engine. You won't need to bump up compression if you go this route. I don't recall if the supercharger needs new bearings, but it needs a drive coupler which you can find on EBay. Before were ready, I'll need to mock up everything first.
 
#25 · (Edited)
All right that sounds perfect and yeah I'm in no big rush, for the pistons you recommended could you link a ring set I just don't want to end up getting the wrong ones when I buy them. Also with the camshaft would I still need the same one you recommended or would it be different because it's going to be supercharged because I remember reading a post of yours how on a turbo motor a high lift cam isn't actually the way you want to go; does that apply do supercharged engines as well or no
 
#26 ·
No one really makes a supercharger specific cam for the 2.3 engine, so in the past I have either had custom grinds made or used turbo cams, which typically have wider lobe separation angles. We don't want overlap pushing all of your boost out the exhaust.

Racer Walsh (see link) sells a cam that I like to use with supercharged 2.3's. The turbo community never gave this grind much credit, since it's off boost performance isn't very good. With a lagging turbo it's sluggish until boost comes on. With a supercharger, it's a completely different story, since boost builds the instant you open the throttle. With an instant 8-9 lbs, the Walsh cam will turn out broad flat torque curve in the range of 240+ lb ft. which should enable you to drive tail out without much effort at all.

With the supercharger, you're going to want to run a bigger carburetor; I used to run 465-600 CFM 4 barrels. Yes those sound a bit big, but superchargers don't work well with small, restrictive inlet volumes.

By the way, I pulled up this nose drive for your supercharger today, which seems to be in excellent shape and even has a decent drive coupling.

1403 #2 2.3 Hydraulic slider cam .454" lift





 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top